Úz Valley: the anatomy of a conflict – Part V

Angry Romanians break into the cemetery.

RMDSZ Senator Barna Tánczos has announced on June 5, that Hungarians will protest against the inauguration of the illegally erected parcel by forming a human chain one hour ahead of the ceremony announced by the Dărmănești Mayor’s Office. On June 6, 2019, at 4.00 p.m. several hundred Hungarians meet and walk toward the graveyard and form a human chain. Politicians, civilians, men, and women are there, and peacefully try to stop the ceremony.

“I have never seen such a ragtag group in my life before: it was obvious that they didn’t come to honor their heroes. It was more like a team of warriors who came to occupy a land. You could see such faces and actions as after a football game when they run into the field to occupy it,” one person in the human chain told Transylvania NOW. “We were a bit afraid, but I thought (at least this is what they first told us), that a cordon formed by the gendarmerie would separate the two crowds by standing on the road. But that didn’t happen in reality. A handful of officers stood in front of the gate, and the Romanians started walking on the road, while the leaders of the two camps negotiated. Meanwhile, the Romanians shouted out loud to us “Out with Hungarians from this country,” “Shame on you,” and other insulting slogans.

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